Service High School senior Johnny Meszaros meets with Graduation Coach Carly Tibbets. Photo by Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage

The Anchorage School District Superintendent has recommended a budget which eliminates more than 200 jobs. Counseling services could be hit especially hard. KSKA’s Daysha Eaton visited Service High School in Anchorage where staff and students are worried about the impact of the cuts.

Johnny Meszaros loves baseball.

“My passion for baseball is very, very strong. I’m working out at lunchtime. I’m weight training I probably put in as much as a full-time job playing baseball,” Meszaros said.

The Cougars pitcher is set to graduate from Service High School this spring and has a full ride to play college baseball at Central Arizona University. But things weren’t always on track for him. In 10th grade he was dabbling in drugs and lost focus.

Service High School Graduation Coach Carly Tibbets holds a motivational chart her students use to track their credit completion. Photo by Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage.

“I wasn’t passing any classes and I was getting in trouble. I was getting suspended. And then I got in trouble for good, I got expelled,” Meszaros said.

He was expelled but allowed to come back after a semester.

The 17-year-old lost valuable time is making up more than a semester’s worth of credits in order to graduate.

For Christian Alvarado, it was moving that pushed him off track. His parents are from Guatemala. He relocated to Anchorage from Oklahoma when he was in first grade. He hasn’t stopped jumping around since.

“Since I moved to Anchorage, I’ve probably moved a dozen times. Having to move because of either just wanting a different place or better opportunity or just cause I have to because maybe you know, something went wrong with the lease,” Alvarado said.

Sometimes Alvarado says he ended up living across town and because his single mom worked full-time, she usually wasn’t around to help him get to and from school.

“There’s times when I would really want to go to school and like you know I would wake up and honestly, I wouldn’t have a ride,” Alvarado said.

As a result, he fell behind. Eventually, he moved in with a classmate’s family near Service. The 18-year-old works part-time to contribute to the rent. If he makes it, he’ll be the first in his family to graduate from high school. He says he wants to major in Business at UAA, then open his own construction company. But he has a lot of catching up to do first – he has to make up most of his sophomore and junior year by May to graduate.

Both Alvarado and Meszaros get help from the help from Carly Tibbetts.

“You know, love, sex, drugs, alcohol, suicide. I have those conversations on a daily basis with my kids,” Tibbetts said.

Motivational posters decorate the wall in Graduation Coach Carly Tibbets’ office in Service High School. Photo by Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage

Tibbetts, who has a Master’s degree in social work, says she can relate to the students because she also struggled with school. Besides day-to-day counseling, she also manages a ‘credit recovery’ program to help kids who fall behind. About 1,800 students attend Service High School. Tibbetts says the 75 or so students she works with face serious challenges.

“We have kids that are homeless. We have kids that bounce from parent to parent. We have kids that are into drugs. I become their cheerleader but I’m also the person who calls them when they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” Tibbetts said.

Anchorage School District Superintendent, Jim Browder, has recommended a budget that eliminates more than 200 jobs, including Tibbetts’.  He says the cuts are needed to address a $25 million budget shortfall caused by flat funding from the legislature that is not keeping up with inflation and cost of living increases for employees. Jodette Knock teaches math at Service. Her job is not in jeopardy, but she thinks one of the district’s primary goals is.

“If we cut these counselors, our graduation rates that we want to go up are gonna go down. Kids get frustrated, they have nowhere to turn and they’ll be done,” Knock said.

The district’s comprehensive plan calls for a graduation rate of 90 percent by 2020. The rate has been stuck in the 60 to 75 percent range for nearly a decade. Knock also worries that fewer counselors will put more pressure on teachers.

“I have 34 kids in a classroom. How much more do you want me to do? I’ve got six languages spoken. And if I’m the lone support person, it’s gonna be really hard for these kids. And I’m pretty sure it’s not to cut the counseling support staff,” Knock said.

Browder’s budget recommends eliminating 28 full-time positions in counseling services out of 132, reducing the number to 104 district-wide. That includes doing away with all eight graduation coaches and all eight High School Career Resource Advisors. Superintendent Browder says compared to other school districts, Anchorage has more counselors. And many of the programs that employ them were initially paid for by grants, which have run out. What Browder says he envisions is fewer counselors per school who are generalists — sort of super counselors that can handle anything.

“Anybody inside of the suite should be able to handle any issue. And I think we’re realigning in a way that will provide better service for parents, students and the school as we move forward,” Browder said.

Back at Service High School the kids who benefit from the graduation coach say they don’t know what they’d do without her. Johnny Meszaros says he would not be back in school.

“I was planning on dropping out my sophomore year. I actually got kicked out of school for drugs and stuff and she put me on the right track. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if she wasn’t here,” Meszaros said.

The School Board will be accepting public testimony on the proposed 2013-2014 budget on Monday, February 4th at the Anchorage Education Center beginning at 6:30pm.

• Proposed Budget website
• ASD Profile of Performance

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Photo from KUCB – Unalaska.

Eagle-human relations in Unalaska are usually relatively peaceful. But for a few months each springtime they can turn violent as the eagles attempt to protect their nests. Last week, the city took preemptive action to ward off future attacks.

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Sitka resident and Alaska Chamber of Commerce board member Cory Baggen, (in the center, with the blue folder), talks with state Chamber President Rachael Petro at the Alaska State Capitol building last week. Baggen was part of the state chamber’s fly-in to Juneau, where members met with 58 of the state’s 60 legislators. (Photo by Frank P. Flavin)

Ty Havermeister in the new Havermeister bottling facilty with gallons of whole milk and 2% milk now being marketed in Anchorage and in the Valley. Photo by Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage.

Matanuska Valley’s dairy industry has shrunk to two farms since the shutdown of the Matanuska Creamery in December. A new dairy enterprise may keep both of them afloat for the time being.

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Individual news stories are posted on the APRN news page. You can subscribe to APRN’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @aprn.

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Charges Against Former BBNC Board Member Dropped

Dave Bendinger, KDLG – Dillingham

The State of Alaska’s sexual assault case against former-Bristol Bay Native Corporation Board Member Sergie Chukwak has been dismissed.

APOC Agrees To Consent Agreement With Dan Coffey

Steve Heimelm, APRN – Anchorage

The Alaska Public Offices Commission has approved a consent agreement worked out by its staff and former Anchorage Assembly member Dan Coffey.  APOC staff say he failed to register as a lobbyist for the Municipality of Anchorage and then made illegal campaign contributions to legislative candidates outside his own district.  Under the agreement, Coffey admits he violated the law and the staff recommends a reduction of the maximum possible fine from 46 and a half thousand dollars to thirteen thousand. Coffey says he thought he didn’t have to be registered if he limited his hours of lobbying activities.  Coffey’s job was to try to get the Legislature to pay for the cost over-runs at the Port of Anchorage.

Tsunami Debris Problem Gets Worse In Alaska, With Little Clean Up Finding In Sight

Annie Feidt, APRN – Anchorage

Refrigerators, Styrofoam buoys and even ketchup bottles are piling up on Alaska’s beaches. It’s debris from the devastating Japanese tsunami in the spring of 2011. One of the hardest hit beaches is on Montague Island at the entrance to Prince William Sound. APRN’s Annie Feidt visited the beach last weekend with a marine debris expert and has this story.

ASD Students, Staff Worried About Counseling Cuts

Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage

The Anchorage School District Superintendent has recommended a budget which eliminates more than 200 jobs.  Professions that could be hit especially hard are Counselors and Advisors. KSKA’s Daysha Eaton visited Service High School in Anchorage where staff and students are worried about  the impact of the cuts.

Bill Pushes For Increased School Funding

Alexandra Gutierrez, APRN – Juneau

In the legislature, a bill that would increase funding for schools has been introduced. A team of nine Democrats want to peg what’s called the “Base Student Allocation” to inflation. That allocation gives school $5,680 for every student they have enrolled, and it’s remained at the same level for the past three years. The funding bill would increase that amount to nearly $6,000 to account for inflation over the past two years, and it would permanently tie the allocation to the consumer price index going forward.

Public Comments On Gov. Parnell’s Oil Tax Cut Proposal

Alexandra Gutierrez, APRN – Juneau

The public got its first chance to comment on the governor’s proposal to cut taxes on oil companies this week. His bill would get rid of a provision that oil companies pay more when profits are high, and it would tie credits to production instead of exploration.

Unalaska Works To Ward Off Eagle, Human Encounters

Stephanie Joyce, KUCB – Unalaska

Eagle-human relations in Unalaska are usually relatively peaceful. But for a few months each springtime they can turn violent as the eagles attempt to protect their nests. Last week, the city took preemptive action to ward off future attacks.

Havermeister Dairy Fills Niche Dairy Market

Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage

Matanuska Valley’s dairy industry has shrunk to two farms since the shutdown of the Matanuska Creamery in December. A new dairy enterprise may keep both of them afloat for the time being:

A work crew and some heavy equipment moved the canoe in front of Kettleson Memorial Library on Wednesday morning.

The wooden canoe is adorned with Tlingit designs, and has been parked between Centennial Hall and Kettleson for years. It was commissioned in the late 1960s by the Greater Sitka Chamber of Commerce, and carved by George Benson, Herman Kitka and Andrew Hope.

The city of Sitka is redesigning the grounds around the canoe. So, it made the trip across the construction site on a flatbed truck to its temporary home in the Crescent Harbor shelter. It will remain there until renovations are complete.

The City of Ketchikan has announced that starting on Friday, police will start enforcing the no-parking rule along the hill on Venetia Way, which leads up to the Ted Ferry Civic Center.

The rule also applies to the fire lane next to Cape Fox Lodge.

When the main and overflow parking lots next to the civic center are full, drivers traditionally have parked along the hill. It generally happens during large events at the civic center, such as this weekend’s Wearable Art Show.

The city encourages residents to find alternate parking to avoid tickets and/or potential towing.

Because of anticipated parking issues during the popular Wearable Art Show, the city and borough have teamed up to provide a free shuttle from downtown parking areas. The shuttle will start operating about a half hour before the doors open for each show, with stops on Front Street and at the Centennial Building.

Following each performance, the shuttle will run again, taking people back to their vehicles.

Kyan Reeve of the borough Transit Department says the shuttle ride will take about 10 minutes.

Federal spending cuts may have hurt the U.S. economy's fourth-quarter growth. But don't count on that changing the dynamics of the current debate over the sequester, the ax poised to start hacking $1.2 trillion from federal spending if Congress fails to stop it by the March 1 deadline.

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